Chapter 25

Serena’s POV

The forest was still gray when she started walking. Mist moved like breath across the ground, curling around her boots, catching on roots. The air smelled of iron and pine sap. Each step took her farther from the Nightshade walls and closer to silence. That was all she wanted.. The silence.

Her bag was light. One knife. A waterskin. A blanket rolled tight. She didn’t take anything else; every object inside that fortress had a memory attached to it, and she ...